In my dream of returning to the Tang Dynasty, I snatched Wu Zetian from my lap.

Another day and night passed.

The soft, rustling sound of dense hooves came from deep within an unnamed mountain.

"call!"

Puffs of white mist escaped from the soldiers' mouths; their physical strength was nearing its limit.

"His Highness has ordered the entire army to rest and regroup on the spot!"

Scouts rode back and forth on horseback, delivering messages.

Immediately, the soldiers on the scene unloaded their heavy loads, dismounted from their warhorses, sat down on the ground, and gasped for breath.

After days of breaking through and retreating, both men and horses were nearing their limits, and as soon as they lay down, snoring began.

When a person is on the verge of their limit, sleep is the most instinctive way to rest.

Li Yuanchang led his men up the high slope to scout the terrain.

He didn't rest; his mind remained focused. He bore a heavy responsibility: to bring everyone back alive and to find out exactly what had happened and how the Tibetans had appeared in the rear.

His lips were dry, his face was slightly frostbitten, and his eyes were full of fatigue. His stubble had long since grown into a full beard, and he hadn't had time to groom it, adding to his middle-aged appearance.

"Is that the Gongwang Plateau?"

He muttered to himself, his gaze fixed on the edge of his vision, a golden dome soaring into the clouds, formed by the sun shining on the snow-capped mountains.

Gongwang Plateau, at an altitude of over 3,000 meters, is the highest peak in Tuyuhun.

"Your Highness, it should be."

"But judging from the distance, it's still quite far from us, at least twenty miles as the crow flies." Guo Chao, Yuan Tuo, and the others looked on, panting.

Li Yuanchang glanced down at the compass again, then compared it with the map, and drew the approximate location of the Far East Army in an extremely scientific manner.

"We should be here. We have entered the Mochuogu Mountains on the northwest side of Tuyuhun. If we continue west, we will reach the Tibetan mainland, and if we go north, we can reach the Western Regions."

Yuan Tuo said, "Your Highness, it seems we have no choice but to head east and take a gamble."

"The west and north are dead ends; these two sides are almost forbidden zones for life, with endless plateaus and deserts."

"There are pursuers to the south."

Li Yuanchang knew, of course, that he could only go east. No matter how he ran or how he managed to find a way out, he would eventually have to return to Fuai City.

"But the problem now is not breaking through, but solving the problem of food supplies."

Upon hearing this, everyone fell silent.

For so long since the breakout, the entire army has been avoiding this issue, but now it has to be brought to the forefront for discussion.

The grain supply route was cut off, and the remaining supplies were almost gone.

The Far Eastern Army, isolated and surrounded, has encountered its greatest enemy: food shortage!

The soldiers looked around at the endless mountains and dense forests. Where could they find food?

Although there were some supplies along the way, they were mostly grass and water. The horses had enough to eat, but there weren't enough people.

The number of edible wild vegetables and fruits is extremely limited, far from sufficient, and some wild vegetables and fruits that cannot be identified are even prohibited from being eaten.

Li Yuanchang was worried that it was poisonous, so he ate it, and the army was paralyzed on the spot.

Unlike before, there was nowhere to even plunder grain. There were no enemy garrisons or Tibetan tribes here, and everything seemed to be in dire straits!

Just when everyone was at a loss and fell into a deathly silence.

"Report!!"

"Your Highness, we've found the bodies of our soldiers! We've found the bodies of our soldiers!"

A scout rushed over, looking panicked.

Corpse?

All eyes turned to look, filled with astonishment. There hadn't been a battle; where did these corpses come from?

The scouts carried over a corpse, undoubtedly made of Far Eastern army armor and clothing, but the person was already dead, his body stiffened, covered in lividity, and had been shot in the back with an arrow; the flesh was already rotting and stinking.

Li Yuanchang's expression changed: "Where did you find it?"

"Your Highness, it's in that ravine over there."

"How could there be corpses of our soldiers here?" Guo Chao was shocked. His army had never been here before, nor had they fought here.

"It should be Lu Zhong's troops!" Li Yuanchang blurted out, with a sense of foreboding.

Upon hearing this, everyone suddenly remembered that the night before the great retreat, Lu Zhong had been ordered to lead 500 men into the supply route. Upon discovering that the Tibetan army had parachuted in behind them, he chose to block them and buy time.

In terms of time and route, they basically match.

The fighting has reached a point where the entire Tuyuhun is in complete chaos, and no one expected to encounter Lu Zhong's forces here.

"Walk!

Li Yuanchang led a team to the scene of the incident to conduct search and rescue operations.

More bodies were found one after another, and the roster confirmed that they belonged to Lu Zhong's troops. This weighed heavily on the hearts of the rescue team, who felt that their comrades who had intercepted them were probably also in grave danger, and their hatred for the Tibetans deepened!

However, Li Yuanchang discovered that these bodies had almost all been simply processed and thus preserved.

They were either buried in pits or haystacks, or covered with a cloth, as if to give their companions the last bit of dignity, and sprinkled with some powder to repel snakes, insects and wild beasts.

This is the key reason why their bodies were not left to rot in the wilderness and be eaten by insects and animals.

In other words, these soldiers had comrades after they died in battle, and Lu Zhong's troops still had survivors.

Immediately, Li Yuanchang dispatched a large number of scouts to conduct a larger-scale search and rescue operation.

He originally intended to take action himself, but all his subordinates forcibly stopped him, telling him to rest, otherwise he wouldn't be able to handle it.

Li Yuanchang could only return to the camp to wait. As he waited, perhaps because he was too exhausted, he fell asleep.

I slept straight through until dark.

When I opened my eyes, all I saw was darkness, with very little light.

He was startled and jumped to his feet, fully revived. His body tensed up reflexively, and he instantly switched into battle mode.

"What time is it?"

Guo Chao, who was not far away, quickly arrived with his men: "Your Highness, it's just past nightfall, around 5:45 PM."

"How could I have slept for so long? Why didn't you wake me up?" Li Yuanchang felt a wave of fear wash over him.

Guo Chao said with a troubled and bitter expression, "Your Highness, you haven't slept for two days and two nights. If this continues, your body won't be able to take it. Since everything seemed normal, I didn't wake you."

"The brothers are currently taking turns resting, so you can rest assured. The area for miles around is under our surveillance; the Tibetans will not possibly appear suddenly."

call!

Li Yuanchang exhaled a breath of stale air: "Alright."

"How's the search for Lu Zhong's troops going? Any leads?"

"Your Highness, the person has not yet returned, and the situation is still unclear," Guo Chao replied.

Li Yuanchang frowned, and before he could speak, his eyes suddenly flashed.

Suddenly, torches flickered on the mountainside outside the camp, forming a long line. Although there were not many, they were extremely conspicuous in the pitch-black mountains.

Li Yuanchang couldn't help but take a few steps forward and pick up the binoculars.

"You're back?"

"Is it them?"

He quickly mounted his horse, and Guo Chao and his personal guards followed closely behind, the sound of hooves tearing apart the silence of the night.

Some soldiers, unaware of the situation, thought it was an enemy attack, but upon inquiry, they learned it was Lu Zhong's lost troops.

The entire army was in an uproar and rushed to greet them, initially believing they had all died in battle.